Red Cross volunteer can't stop giving

Oct. 9, 2008 11:00 PM

Written by

For The Reporter

Patrick Boyle jokes that he is a "disaster-holic," a term used to describe a Red Cross volunteer who can't stop giving his or her time to help other people.

On Aug. 31, Boyle of Fond du Lac once again closed his business's doors, said goodbye to his wife and headed to Louisiana for 27 days to work as an American Red Cross disaster volunteer.

Boyle helped set up a kitchen at a shelter in New Orleans. He supervised the kitchen, which was open 12 hours a day and served about 55,000 hot meals to evacuees. After the hurricanes, he helped tear down the kitchen and served meals throughout the area from emergency response vehicles to people who were returning home.

Despite being in lock-down at his staff shelter for almost three days as the 80 mph winds of Hurricane Ike ripped off the steeple and part of the roof of his shelter, Boyle thinks it is worthwhile to volunteer.

"It is hard to explain, but it makes me feel better to be able to help people, even if it is just a little bit," he said. "If I could get paid to do it for a living, I would."

In New Orleans, Boyle worked with 40 Red Cross disaster volunteers from around the country.

"There are rich people, poor people, challenged people and even completely tattooed people, all working together," he said. "This was the best group of volunteers I've worked with."

It was from these volunteers that he learned the definition of "disaster-holic" and found the term to be fitting for his personality.

Boyle is a Fond du Lac County Red Cross Chapter volunteer and has helped with several disasters, including Hurricane Wilma, the California wildfires, the Kansas winter storms and the Fond du Lac flood.